Teen Titans
Teen Titans is an animated series that follows the adventures of the superhero team of the same name. The main characters are Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven and Starfire. There were also a wealth of secondary characters appearing, mostly drawn from DC comics, with a few original characters created for the show. Teen Titans characters in the DCAU * Batman (BTAS: "On Leather Wings"; TT "Haunted" implied) * Beast Boy (SS: "Romeo in the Mix"; TT "Final Exam") * John Grayson & Mary Grayson (BTAS: "Robin's Reckoning"; TT "Haunted" implied) * Kid Flash (JLU: "Flash and Substance" implied; TT "Lightspeed") * The Gordanians (JLU: "Starcrossed"; TT "Go!") * Robin (SS: "Hard as Nails"; TNBA: "Gotham Knights"; TT "Final Exam"; TT "How Long is Forever?") * Speedy (JLU: "Patriot Act"; TT "Winner Take All") Canonicity The canonicity of Teen Titans within the DCAU is debated by fans. Arguments Against Canonicity * In STAS: "Last Son of Krypton," the fact that Superman is an alien is a surprise to Lois Lane, making it unlikely for the Teen Titans (and Starfire) to have been around prior to this. * Batman did not recognize the Gordanians in JL: "Starcrossed," despite them being the cause of the Teen Titans origin in the Titans episode "Go!" * Teen Titans has Looney Tune cartoon physics making everyone on there (Even the Titans) look like they came from the fifth dimension of Mr. Mxyzptlk's. Arguments For Canonicity * Dick Grayson's absence between Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, makes him available to the Teen Titans in the DCAU timeline. Batman's comment in "Hard As Nails" may indicate that Tim Drake joined the team later. Of course, complete seperation from Batman isn't necessary as in the comics continuity, Robin appeared in both Teen Titans stories and Batman stories at the same time. * Batman tells Static that Robin is "with the Titans" in SS "Hard As Nails" * "The green dude" (Beast Boy) is mentioned as a member of the Titans in SS "Romeo in the Mix" * Robin switching his costumed identity to Nightwing in "How Long is Forever," an alternate future episode of Teen Titans, and in The New Batman Adventures, Dick Grayson also assumed that identity. (This implies the show takes place before TNBA) * Larry the Titan, in the "Teen Titans" episode "Fractured", is an alternate dimension version of Robin... and he states his name: Kcid Nosyarg. As his name spins backward it reads Dick Grayson, implying that his counterpart is Dick Grayson, which if put into continuity would mean the show takes place before The New Batman Adventures. * In a flashback on Teen Titans episode "Haunted" Robin's parents are shown falling from trapezes and he pledges his alliegance to a figure that appears to be Batman, which could be a reference to Robin's Reckoning. * Bruce Timm said a Justice League/Teen Titans crossover was discussed with creators of both shows. See Comics Continuum * An appearance of Speedy on JLU "Patriot Act" with a similar character model to the Teen Titans model and voiced by the same actor, Mike Erwin. * "Kid Flash" appearing on Teen Titans, voiced by Michael Rosenbaum. Kid Flash was Wally West's costumed identity prior to the death of Barry Allen in DC comics. And Michael Rosenbaum also did the voice of Flash in Justice League. * Lightspeed Energy Bars appear in the Teen Titans episode "Lightspeed," which were first introduced in Eclipsed. * The same Kid Flash costume appears in JLU "Flash and Substance" * Wonder Girl was never shown in Teen Titans. If she would have, her appearance would lead people to speculate as to why she would've been around before Wonder Woman was. (since the show would obviously have to be before "Justice League") Since she didn't appear, that could lead one to beleive that the show was acknowledging the fact that since there isn't a Wonder Girl in the Justice League's time, then there can't be one in the Teen Titans' time, since Teen Titans would have to be before Justice League. (It should be noted that even if Wonder Girl would have been in the show, it wouldn't have contradicted "Justice League" nessasarilly. Because since the show follows a continuity separate from the comics, the possibility that a Wonder Girl came before a Wonder Woman is not impossible or hard to imagine. As a matter of fact, Wonder Girl was considered to make an appearance on the show, but was never shown due to legal issues) Robin's True Identity Another contraversial issue is the identity of Robin. The following is information regarding that subject; Tim Drake A few individuals believe that in order for the Teen Titans cartoon to fit into the DCAU's continuity, (although not all believe it does) that Robin must be Tim Drake, since he was the current Robin in the DCAU. There is however, very few things that would support the idea that he is Tim Drake. However, he does use a bow staff, which was very popular for Tim Drake's comic book counterpart. He also seemed a bit more cocky than Dick Grayson, which is more in line with Tim Drake's character. In fact, Dick Grayson in the DCAU is characterized as very aloof and light-hearted compared to Robin of Teen Titans, even as Nightwing. Jason Todd Some fans have speculated the possibly that Robin is Jason Todd, since he was never shown in any other medium but comics. There are no significant arguments to back this theory up though. An episode of Teen Titans did give a vague reference to Jason Todd though. But it referred to him as a Robin from an alternate reality. It could have been just considered an in-joke. And if it wasn't an in-joke, it still doesn't prove that the Robin from this cartoon is Jason. If anything, it confirms that he definitly is not. Dick Grayson The majority of fans believe that the Robin from this cartoon is Dick Grayson. There's more evidence to suggest that he is Dick Grayson than anything else. Some fans, although they do believe that this Robin is Dick Grayson, don't believe that the show takes place within the continuity of the DCAU. While other fans also beleive that Robin is Dick Grayson and the show definitly does take place within the DCAU. The explanation often given is the fact that the show takes place at a point sometime before Batman: The Animated Series. Or possibly even sometime between Batman: TAS and The New Batman Adventures. Robin on the Teen Titans cartoon appears younger than the Robin in B:TAS. Although this could just be because of the show's stylistic differences. Also, it's possible that even though he was seen stripping off his costume and throwing it down in "Old Wounds," it's possible that Dick could have had another costume, or made a new one, and joined the Teen Titans for a while before becoming Nightwing. But putting the continuity of the show behind, there are still several things that suggest (although in most people's opinions it's solid proof) that this Robin is Dick Grayson. The first one is the fact that when Starfire travels to the future in "How Long Is Forever?", Robin is now Nightwing, which is what Dick Grayson is known to be in the comic books and in the DCAU. Another one is that in the episode "Fractured," Robin's counterpart from another dimension was named Kcid Nosyarg. Which just happens to be Dick's name spelled backward. The Flying Graysons are also shown in a flashback sequence on "Haunted." Also Robin's pants are green just like the BTAS Dick Grayson/Robin. Tim Drake's pants were red. (of course this would just be considering the possibility that Teen Titans is part of the DCAU's continuity, because it could also be argued that the Teen Titans Robin was based on the Tim Drake Robin of the comics). It's also been argued that if Robin was Tim Drake rather than Dick Grayson then Starfire should be much older, and not in love with him, since that's how it is in the comics. Once again this is not nessasarilly a worthy arguement, since the comics continuity is totally separate from this. Even still, the fact that the show is so obviously based upon the look of "The New Teen Titans" comics of the '80s, it would make one wonder why someone other than Dick Grayson would be used as the Robin. His relationship with Starfire is a big part of this series, and the same is the case in the comic books.